Shain Chapter 3

"You wanna tell me what made you so pissed off you called me to come get you when I know how much you were anticipating this weekend with the Infidels?" Laz asked after he picked me up outside their gate. He let me stew a few minutes before he asked.

"Can we not talk about it?" I asked with a sigh. I sighed because I knew it was useless. But I had to try. He shook his head.

"Not happening. Spill. Or do I need to turn around and go back to that clubhouse and kick someone's ass? Maybe a bunch of people's asses?"

"Laz, no you don't need to kick anyone's ass. If you must know, Moose and his usual overprotective shit pissed me off."

"It was more than him and his attitude. What else?"

"Fine. There was this one Infidel who spent all day hanging with me. Him and Moose were arguing. I got fed up and tried to get space. Daredevil followed me and we argued."

"Argued about?"

"About how he was wasting his time chatting me up in the hopes of getting a piece of ass. I told him it wasn't happening. He got offended and told me I was wrong about him but then stomped off after telling me how many women would welcome his attention. I didn't want to hang there all weekend so I called you. End of story."

"You like him."

"No, I don't," I protested.

"Yes, I think you do, otherwise you would've stayed and kicked his ass. You're upset because you like him and are afraid he did only want sex. I'm turning this car around and I'm taking you back. I need to meet this bastard for myself. And I wanna find out why your cousin and the other Regulators didn't get rid of him."

I pleaded with him to no avail. He changed direction. I was still trying to convince him not to take me back when headlights blinded us. Laz whipped the car to the berm, trying to avoid it but he couldn't. The crunch of metal and then pain had me screaming first in fright, then pain.

My name being called shook me from my nightmare. I cracked my eyes open. It was then I realized I had been dreaming and it was daylight. Blinking several times to bring the figure standing over me into focus, I saw Moose.

He resembled a man on his last leg. Dark circles were under both eyes, and he was haggard-looking. It took a lot to put circles like that on a face as dark as his. Relief was evident on his face. He reached out and picked up one of my hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You were having a nightmare, honey."

"No, I was remembering the accident."

"I'm sorry. Why didn't you tell me you wanted to leave? I had to find out after you called Laz and left with him. I would've taken you home."

"I didn't want to ruin your weekend. Besides, if I had we might've been hit and it probably would've killed us on your bike. Do you know how Laz is doing? And what caused the other driver to hit us? Is he alright?" I was terrified he'd say one or both were dead.

"Laz is gonna be fine. He's banged up some but he'll live. You were both lucky. As for the cocksucker who hit you, he was drunk. After they cleared him, he was taken to jail. He better hope he stays there for the rest of his life. If he doesn't, I'll kill him," he snarled.

"He was what? Are you kidding me? Who was he?"

"An idiot with a death wish."

"How did you know we were hit?"

"Don't you remember? When they took you from the wreckage, you begged a policeman to call the Infidels' compound to tell me what happened. It so happened it was a guy Cuffs works with so he called him directly."

His explanation brought hazy memories back. I shifted in the bed causing me to groan in pain. Before I could blink his other hand grabbed a control on the bed and he was pressing a button. When nothing happened, I figured out he'd called the nurse.

"What're you doing?"

"Calling them so they'll come give you something for pain. There's no reason for you to hurt. I saw enough of you in pain last night to last me a lifetime. They kept holding off giving you anything until they finished assessing the damage. It's a good thing they finally did. Daredevil and I were about to tear their heads off."

At the mention of Daredevil, I closed my eyes. Just the mention of his name filled me with shame. I was such a bitch to him. How would I ever make it up to him? He must think I was a raving lunatic. Prying my eyelids open again I gave Moose a beseeching glance.

"Please tell me he left."

"Why? Don't you wanna see him?"

"I made such a fool of myself. I yelled at him and acted like he was trying to sleep with me. Talk about egotistical. He was only being nice. I can't face him. When can I get out of here? I wanna go home."

"And leave him without talking this out?"

"Believe me. He doesn't need or want to talk to me."

"Like hell I don't," came a gruff growl from the doorway. I whipped my head around to look even though I knew who it was. I winced in pain. He was upset. I could tell as he strolled over to the opposite side of the bed from Moose.

"You mind letting me talk to her alone?" he asked my cousin.

"Sure. Just so you know, I rang for the nurse. She needs more pain medicine. No one has answered yet. I'll go tell them. If they don't get their asses in here in the next five minutes you go find one of them."

"Don't leave," I begged Moose to no avail. He gave me a kiss on the forehead then walked out. I studiously avoided Daredevil's gaze.

I jumped when there was a loud buzzing then a woman's voice came out of the speaker on the wall. "Yes, how may I help you?"

"She needs more damn pain medicine. Now." Daredevil said gruffly.

"I'll be right there, sir," she squeaked before hanging up.

"You shouldn't talk to them like that," I reprimanded him.

"I'll do it if you need something, which you do. While we wait, mind telling me why you think I don't need or want to talk to you?"

"No reason."

"That's a lie but I'll let you think about it a bit longer. How about I tell you what it did to me to hear you were almost killed last night due to me running you off? I thought my heart was gonna stop. You scared the fuck out of me, Shain. I should've never said what I did to you. I'm sorry."

I heard the pain and regret in his voice. "Daredevil, it wasn't your fault. I got myself worked up and left in a snit."

"I didn't mean what I said about finding a woman who wanted my attention. It was a lie."

"I can't blame you. I know what those parties are like even if the Regulators have tried to keep me away from theirs. I'm not stupid. I should've thanked you for being nice to me and making me feel welcome then let you go have fun. I was stupid to think you were doing it to sleep with me. Talk about conceited." I snorted as I rolled my eyes.

"It wasn't conceited. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you in my bed, but it wasn't all I wanted."

"What else did you want?" I whispered.

"This and a whole helluva lot more," he whispered back to me before he lowered his head and took my mouth.

I tried to keep my mouth closed. I knew my breath was awful but he didn't seem to care. He probed the seam of my lips until I had no choice but to open up. When I did, his tongue forged inside to tangle with mine. I moaned as his hands cupped my face and he deepened it slowly. He hungrily kissed me. Who knew how long he would've continued if a throat being cleared hadn't made him pull away? I flushed when I saw a nurse standing there. She was fidgeting.

"About time," he told her.

She bustled over to my bed. It wasn't until then that I noticed I had an IV in my hand. She fiddled with the line, then injected a syringe of pain killer, I assumed, into it. The beginning of relief was almost instant as it hit my veins.

"There, this should make you feel better. Is there anything else I can get you? If so, don't forget to ask. I'm here for all your needs," she said sweetly.

She was peering at him as she said it, not me. I recognized her expression. She was eyeing him as if he was a tasty treat. God, she just saw him kissing me and she was practically panting over him. What if I was his girlfriend? Did she have no shame?

"All I need from you and anyone else here is for you to take care of her. I won't be happy if I find out she's not. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to what you interrupted."

He glowered at her. She shot me an angry pout before she tramped out with a huff.

"Daredevil, really?"

"Really what? She interrupted the best kiss of my life."

"I find that hard to believe," I scoffed, even though I wanted to believe him. I knew it was the best of mine.

"Babe, there's something you need to know about me. I don't lie about things like that. Remember that if you ever don't want to know something from me. My folks raised me to tell the truth no matter what. And before you say anything, the remark about finding other women was an exception. Promise you won't tell my parents."

"Why? Are you afraid of your parents?" I teased.

"Hell yeah, especially my mom. She's a crazy Cajun mother married to a Hispanic. She terrifies all of us, including Dad."

I giggled so thankfully I had the med onboard. "Who is "we"? If what you say is true, I'd love to meet her."

"My three younger brothers and my sister as well as just about everyone in our extended family. Being Hispanic and Cajuns we number in the hundreds. And you'll meet her for sure."

"Why would I meet her? Does she come to the compound? Although I doubt I'll be there again."

"Oh, baby, yes, you will. I'm not keeping the woman I'm interested in from my family, but first, we need to get you out of here, us better acquainted, and you healed before I expose you to them. That way, you'll be so crazy about me that you won't run."

I gaped in stunned disbelief at his remarks. He didn't appear to be joking but he had to be. Didn't he?

???

I was kept in the hospital for a total of three days. The only reason it was this long was I developed a fever. One of the lacerations from flying glass had gotten infected on my arm. They gave me a day of intravenous antibiotics and only agreed to let me leave if I had someone to administer them for a few more days and to watch over me. I informed them I was a paramedic and could do it, but they weren't satisfied, so I thought I'd have to stay in the hospital until Daredevil told the doctor I'd stay with the Infidels and Luciana or Saint would do it. The doctor knew both of them and was more than satisfied with this solution, so he signed off on my discharge.

I was nervous about staying with them. The main reason was I was still shocked by Daredevil's declaration that he wanted me to meet his family and for me to fall in love with him. When I regained my voice after he said it, I joked with him about watching himself or I might take him seriously. He reminded me he didn't lie and assured me he meant it.

He came every day and spent hours at my bedside despite me telling him he didn't need to. Moose had stayed until he knew I was on the mend and would be discharged. He had to get back for work but he promised he'd be back the following weekend. He dropped off my clothes before he left. Getting dressed today to leave took me several minutes to get them on due to my discomfort and stiffness. Once I was dressed, after a few swear words, I waited for my ride to come. As I did, I recalled seeing Laz before he left after just a day in the hospital, the lucky shit. He was in better shape than I was.

He kept apologizing for not being able to avoid the drunk driver. He did so under the watchful eyes of Daredevil who glared daggers at him. I reassured Laz I would be fine and I'd see him soon. This earned more glares from Daredevil. After Laz left, Daredevil asked me who he was to me.

"Who the hell is he to you? Why did you call him to pick you up?"

"Don't get shitty with me. Not that it's any of your business, but he's my friend, and we work together."

"Like hell it's not my business. How can you work together if he lives down here?"

"He was visiting family over the holiday. I knew he was and they weren't far from Tenillo. I didn't want to take Moose or the others away from the party so I called to see if he would come get me."

"So he dropped everything to come get you," he stated. I nodded. This didn't appease him. "Why? Did you two date or something?"

"No, we didn't date! Why are you insisting it's more than us being friends?"

"Because how can he just be your friend? You're too sexy and beautiful to just be a friend with. Unless he's gay. is he?"

"No, he's not gay, and though I thank you for the compliment, it's not true. There are plenty of men who haven't wanted me."

He kept insisting it was impossible. In the end I gave up.

"Knock, knock, you ready to go?" Daredevil's voice asked, dragging me back from my memory. I smiled at him, hoping I was masking my nervousness.

"I'm so ready to escape this place. I'll go out the window if I have to."

He chuckled as he pushed a wheelchair to the bed.

"Then your chariot awaits. No need to climb out the window."

"Whew, what a relief. You know, I don't need a wheelchair. I can walk."

"Hospital rules. It's either this or I carry you. Which will it be? I prefer the latter myself."

"You're not carrying me all the way down to the car."

"Why not? Think I can't?" he huffed.

"No, I believe you can, it's just not necessary. Let me get in that contraption then let's run. I got my paperwork and I need to go before my nurse comes back."

He locked the wheels and helped me to my feet even though I could do it myself. I wanted to go. If my nurse came in and flirted with him again, I'd punch her in the face. She was the one from the first day who came onto him. She got over her huffiness and when she came in this morning she was looking for him. She asked me where he was. I lied and blurted out he wasn't coming to get me.

Holding onto my bag and purse I let him wheel me out. I thought we were home free when we got to the elevator without spotting her. No such luck. As we waited for it to get to this floor and the doors to open, I heard her grating voice behind us. I gritted my teeth. I glanced back to find him glancing over his shoulder. I could see enough of his face to see he was scowling.

"Wait, you can't leave yet?" she called out as she hurried toward us. I saw she was devouring him with her eyes.

"Why? I have my paperwork and the doctor said I can leave," I bit out.

"I need to make sure your friend knows what to do in case you get sick again. If you'll come with me, I'll go over the instructions with you. I have a number in case you have any questions. An orderly can take her downstairs and wait for you and me to get done."

"I don't need you to go over anything. I know what to watch for, and even if I don't, my brother and one of the old ladies do," he told her. As she tried to protest, the doors opened and he wheeled me inside and pressed the button. Her angry face made me smile.

Pushing me outside a couple of minutes later, I saw the smirk on his face. I pretended I didn't. I was rolled over to an SUV. I guess I wasn't thinking about how we'd get to the compound. He opened the passenger door then lifted me to place me inside.

"I could've—" my remark was cut off by his mouth. He kissed me again. When he was done, I was too bemused to say anything as he latched my seatbelt and then shut the door.